A/N: So, I'm sorry about this, but I just could not get this idea out of my head. My new crossover love of Naruto/Highschool DxD is very intense.

Disclaimer: I gain no monetary compensation out of writing this. This is purely for pleasure and entertainment.

Chapter 1:
Balance

War is… Well, most people call it Hell, but Hell is surprisingly not that bad, all things considered. It actually is a lot like the mortal realm, only key differences are a red-hued sky, and some more mountains. But there are forests, prairies, plains, and oceans. Now, Heaven on the other hand… And now I'm getting ahead of myself.

War. That's where we were. War is terrible. It rips families apart, pits brother against brother, and is one of the worst things that can happen at any time. Worse still, there are people who love war. They thrive in it, relish it, and cannot get enough of it. It's even worse when these people are in charge of countries or governments. But, it's particularly brutal when these types are the leaders of entire races.

The Biblical battle of good versus evil was true. For a time, the Biblical God and the Biblical Satan duked it out. Only, it was more of God versus Satans, the plurality being key. The Four Great Satans, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus combined their might and fought with their creator, God. The wars heaved heavy tolls on both of the sides, and it was during a tenuous peace that a third faction was born, the Fallen Angels. Fallen Angels were sick of waiting for God to make a move against His enemies so they attacked for Him. However, this angered God, and He refused to let them back into His kingdom ever again. The Fallen Angels, still retaining their holy abilities continued to fight against the Devils, but also turned their hatred towards Heaven for abandoning them.

It was during a particularly brutal battle that stained the earth red with the blood of all the factions that a meeting happened. It was during a lull in the fighting that a powerful agent of God was flying over the battlefield, looking for survivors of his brethren. This agent bore the title of Loki, the Angel of Death, and his name was Minato. He was gilded in gleaming silver armor, a solid breastplate with chainmail underneath, with greaves and gauntlets of the purest silver. In his right hand was The Flaming Sword, an extremely powerful blade, far more powerful than the Holy Swords Excalibur, Durandal, Ascalon, and Caliburn. It was created by God for his hand alone; none else would ever wield this blade of pure destruction. From his back, twelve pure white wings sprouted, giving him his ability to fly. His hair was a bright, pure blonde, and his eyes a sharp sapphire that burned with righteous fury. To him, this war was pointless. They were all fighting over the humans, God's favored creation. Though, why God called them his favored when Minato had been sent to dispatch the entirety several times already still eluded him.

While flying, a flash of red, brighter than the blood on the ground caught his eye. Looking down, he saw a woman with long, red hair that fell to her ankles. She was garbed in the black and red armor of Lucifer's top-ranking members, a sturdy full plate top with chainmail pants, with the standard of Lucifer branded on the red cloth hanging from the waist of the plate. In her hands was a spear of pure black, its large, obsidian tip glowed with a purple energy. Her violet eyes were trained on him, and the shaft of the polearm was in her petite, gauntleted hands, with the glowing tip pointed directly at him.

A blast of the purple energy was fired at Minato, but he dodged out of the way, his wings giving him superior aerial maneuverability. Eyes narrowing, he dove towards the woman who dared attack him. She fired several more blasts of devil energy, all of which were evaded easily by the mighty angel. When he was within fifty feet of the devil, he raised his sword arm behind him, the sword igniting in powerful flames, with a cold look, he brought the blade down on the woman when he was within striking distance, bearing down on her spear, which was raised in defense.

An eruption of fire proceeded to climb high into the sky and radiated outwards from the impact, scorching the earth, and turning the bodies of the fallen to ash, nearly instantaneously. Minato's eyebrows raised in surprise as a black, spherical barrier encompassed the devil in her entirety. Her smirk told him that she wasn't as surprised as he was, as she pushed back against his sword, offsetting his balance and gaining a bit of ground between the two. Then the clang of weapons meeting rang through the air. Minato tried to gain ground on her, but with his cleansing of the area, she had ample room to use her acrobatics to maneuver. With her spear's obvious range advantage, he was unable to get close enough to land a blow on her, while she kept thrusting and parrying his strikes. It didn't help that the flames that were launched from his swings were nullified by her barrier, keeping her at the advantage. The exchange kept on for many minutes, each trying to gain a purchase on the other, yet nothing was working. Finally, a break for Minato occurred: his opponent tripped a little on a protruding rock. Seizing the opportunity, he used his wings to propel him forward, closing into her guard. However, she reacted just as swiftly and they both ended up with each other's weapons at their throats.

They stayed locked in the stalemate, their eyes burning into the other's. They stayed locked for ten minutes before either one spoke.

"I should kill you right now," Minato said as he stared at her eyes.

"If you so much as move an inch towards me, I'll cleave your head from your shoulders," her voice lilted with ferocity.

Quiet resumed, and the stalemate endured for another ten minutes.

"Your leader is going to be destroyed," Minato intoned, his voice full of assurance.

"Oh please. Lucifer knew of you, that's why I'm here," the woman commented.

Minato raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Oh? Is that so?"

His opponent's eyes widened, "You weren't supposed to hear that. Forget I said anything!"

A chuckle erupted from Minato's throat, before he felt her blade press closer to his throat, so he did so with his to her neck in return.

"Don't laugh at me, Loki," she sneered, clearly unpleased with being laughed at.

"Minato," the blonde man corrected.

"What?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Loki is my title, my real name is Minato. If you're going to address me, I'd prefer to be called by my given name, devil."

"My name is Kushina, you bastard," the red head snarled.

"Hmm… That's a nice name," Minato complimented, noticing her blush a bit. "That's a strange weapon you hold."

"Hmph. My Obelisk is pretty much the Achilles' Tendon to your Flaming Sword. It was created by Lucifer, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Beelzebub, and myself, Belial," Kushina smirked at the blonde.

"So Lucifer has made another Great Satan, has he?"

"I am his right-hand, just like you are God's left-hand," she explained.

Minato gave her a deadpan look. Who knew it was so easy to get information from a devil?

"What's that look for?" Kushina asked with narrowed eyes.

"You're pretty chatty for a devil," Minato remarked, causing Kushina's eyes to widen in realization, "especially to an agent of God like me."

Kushina looked put-off . "So what? I'm new to having all this information, alright?"

Minato's gaze softened somewhat before he started talking again, "Let's say we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" Kushina asked as she gave him a pointed stare.

A heavy sigh was heaved by Minato. "I'm tired of all this fighting. All it's doing is causing pain to everyone. It's a lose-lose situation. So I want to stop the bloodshed. I propose that we lower our weapons at the same time and we leave."

"What?"

"Just walk away, live to fight another day. Maybe this will be the change in the flow of battle that brings about the end to our long-suffering conflict," Minato clarified.

Kushina looked torn. She worried her lower lip with her teeth before questioning Minato. "How do I know that if I lower my weapon you won't just kill me while I've got my guard down?"

"I'm an agent of God. I cannot lie. Deception isn't in my nature," Minato said, his face hiding nothing in his statement.

Kushina searched his face, looking for any deceit, but could find none. "Okay, so how do we do this?" she asked after a good pause of consideration.

"On the count of three we lower our weapons, O-" Minato started.

"Wait, wait. I'll count down," Kushina said, wanting a measure of control.

"We'll do it together," Minato compromised, getting a nod of satisfaction from Kushina.

In unison, as if they had rehearsed it, they counted to three, "One… two…" their voices rang out, then with a final "three!" they both lowered their weapons and took a step back from the other. Minato gave a relieved smile, which was mimicked by Kushina's. They awkwardly stood, facing each other for a couple of agonizing seconds.

"So what now?" Kushina's soft voice asked.

"We go our separate ways," Minato said, sheathing his sword on his hip. Kushina placed her spear behind her back before straps appeared over her shoulders, securing the weapon in place across her back.

"I was created to oppose you," Kushina said quietly, causing Minato's attention to be focused on her once more. "I'll always be able to find you on the battlefield, and we'll be destined to clash."

Minato gave her a charming smile, "I'd prefer a beautiful woman like you as opposed to a hideous man as my counterpart."

His statement caused Kushina to blush and fidget, as she nervously tucked a strand of her long, red hair behind her ear.

"You know, that's a really enchanting color of hair. It's simply the most beautiful red I've ever seen," Minato said, his inability to lie causing him to say exactly what he meant.

"Th-thank you…" Kushina trailed off in embarrassment.

Minato unfurled his wings in preparation to fly, "May we meet again on friendlier terms, Kushina Belial."

"Yes. I hope so too, Minato Loki," she replied with a soft smile as a demonic circle depicting a spiral surrounded by symbols like a sun appeared at her feet. She swiftly disappeared into the portal, with it disappearing soon after.

Minato smiled at nothing, and with a mighty flap of his twelve wings, he rose into the air. He didn't notice that his wings had lost a little bit of their luster, and seemed a bit more muted.

Over the course of the next few hundred years, the wars raged, and Minato and Kushina clashed, half-heartedly. Each encounter leaving them separating amicably, and Minato's wings losing more and more of their luster. This continued until the day that Minato finally lost his wings' entire luster.

It was the week following a small scuffle, nothing major, no lives lost on either side, and the landscape remained green and lush. Minato sat beneath a tree on a hill top overlooking a shimmering lake. The land of man was certainly beautiful. Minato sat, still garbed in his armor, the Flaming Sword was sheathed at his hip, and his wings were hidden, making him look as a human. A very pensive expression was on his face, and it looked like he was having an inner battle with himself.

"A silver for your thoughts?" came a familiar voice in his right ear. Turning to look at the voice, he saw Kushina, a beautiful smile on her face, still wearing the same armor that she was wearing the day that they met. He smiled and patted the ground at his side as an invitation, which Kushina took, taking her Obelisk off her back and laying it on the ground beside her as she sat next to Minato, closer than he had expected.

"It's been a while, Kushina," Minato remarked with a smile.

"A whole year, I'm amazed that it took so long for any sort of combat to break out," she said with a cheery smile.

Both shared a small chuckle, before sitting in companionable silence. Minato returned his gaze to the lake, getting pensive again. Every once in a while he would steal glances at Kushina, taking in her beautiful looks and happy expression. A small gust of wind passed through as he was looking at her, causing her hair to blow gently, haloing her profile a bit, enhancing her beauty. A small blush dusted Minato's cheeks as a soft smile crossed his face.

Kushina turned to him fully, staring at him intently. "Okay, you keep looking at me. It's obvious you want to ask me something, so just ask," she commanded bluntly.

Minato was taken aback a bit. "W-well… I mean… It's…" he tried and stopped several times before finally sighing and steeling himself. "Hypothetically speaking… If we were both human, how would you feel about me?"

"W-what?" Kushina asked, surprised. She had not been prepared for that.

"I mean, if we were human, no wars, no conflicts, no angel obligations, no devil obligations, if we were on equal grounds, how would you feel about me?" Minato asked, a deeper blush coating his cheeks.

Kushina blushed too, hers a much deeper red, "W-well, if we were human, I suppose we'd be… really good friends. I mean, I feel like you know me as well as I know myself, and I feel the same about you. I mean, we might even be closer than that if we were human."

"You mean a couple?" Minato asked, his heart beating erratically.

Kushina nodded, her voice failing her. She was surprised when she found herself lying flat on her back, looking up into Minato's eyes, he was over her, his left leg between her own, and his hands were on either side of her head, but not on her hair. "M-m-minato?" she stuttered out in confusion.

"One more question. What if we were still devil and angel, and instead of fighting, we just quit the battlefield, leaving behind both of our factions?" he asked, his face getting closer until his forehead rested on hers.

"What are you implying, Minato Loki?" she asked, using his full title because she was a little frightened and confused.

"I'm implying, Kushina Belial, that we run away together. I believe that in these two hundred years that I have known you, that I have fallen quite madly in love with you," he said. Kushina's eyes widened at his confession, before tears started welling at the corners of her eyes. With all her strength, she pulled Minato closer so that their bodies were flush against each other, and her lips crashed into his, hungrily. He returned her fervor with his own, and soon, they started tearing at each other's armor, discarding it. Hungrily, the two grasped at each other.

Hours later found both angel and devil cuddled up against each other. A conjured blanket was all that covered the pair, their nude bodies lay in the soft grass, Kushina was using Minato's chest as a pillow, and his right arm was wrapped around her, his hand idly playing with her long, crimson tresses. No words had been spoken between them as they had made love.

"What happens now?" Kushina asked, a little fearful of the future.

Minato was silent for a minute before giving her a small hug. "Now… Now we're on our own. Neither one of us can go back. It's just you and I against the world."

"Can we do it? Can we really keep our lives hidden from the three factions?"

"I believe so. And if we can't, we still have the power to stop anything that comes our way. I'll be your sword if you'll be my shield," he said as he glanced at her.

She leaned up on her elbow and gave him a soft smile before caressing his lips with hers. "I'll be your shield until the end of time."

"And I'll be your sword always," Minato replied, closing the distance between their lips once again.

It was this day that Minato's wings turned black as pitch, and he regretted not a single moment of it. If humans could find happiness in another, why couldn't an angel?

Four hundred years, the wars raged on. During that entire time neither Minato nor Kushina were seen. It had been rumored between the factions that they had died, both succumbing to wounds sustained by the other. Higher-ups in the chains knew the partial truth in that they both had quit the battlefield. But, regardless of the opposing factions' strongest fighters, the wars raged. And it was during an enormous battle that the unthinkable happened. The Four Great Satans collided with God in a battle that nearly annihilated the Earth. And it was during this battle that both sides sustained numerous lethal wounds, and from those wounds, Lucifer, Leviathan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and God perished.

The power vacuum that occurred in the Devil community caused a cease-fire. It was from this that the current structure of Devil hierarchy was formed. 72 clans who had immense power rose to prominence as the governing bodies, the 72 Pillars of Hell. It was soon after the formation of the Pillars, that a divide occurred. A new war was waged, this one purely of Devils, the Satan faction, who believed in continuing the previous Four Great Satans' plan of overthrowing the Kingdom of Heaven and the Anti-Satans who wanted to live in peace with the Fallen Angels and the Angels. It was a hard battle that lasted two decades. In the end, the Anti-Satans won and the Satan faction fled to the edges of the underworld. From this battle, four new Great Satans were elected by their peers, each carrying the titles of the previous Great Satans. The first was the Hero of the Underworld, Sirzechs Gremory, the next successor to the Gremory Clan, now known as Sirzechs Lucifer, the most powerful devil in the underworld. He was joined by his long-time friend and rival Ajuka Astaroth, known as Ajuka Beelzebub. The heiress to the Sitri Clan, Serafall, inherited the title Leviathan. The last of the four was a relatively unknown, Falbium Glasya-Labolas, who became the new Asmodeus. It was during the new reign that a truer peace reigned, one in which battles were between individuals and not armies. It was during this time that Minato and Kushina reappeared. And it was obvious as to the reason why: Kushina was pregnant.

It came to be that Kushina tried, and succeeded somewhat in contacting the new leaders of the Four Great Satans and Minato contacted Michael, the Archangel who stepped up to run God's Kingdom and Azazel, the leader of the Fallen Angels. A meeting was set up, trying to convince the factions into a true peace, one where their peoples would not have to know the horrors of war that Kushina and Minato had. On the day of the meeting, there were numerous political snafus that were perpetrated by all the leaders. Azazel was the only one of the Fallen to show up. Sirzechs and Ajuka came, representing the Underworld, and Michael had sent Abaddon, a general more ruthless than Minato had been, and his subordinate, Uriel, a powerful woman who followed Abaddon's word as if it were God's.

The atmosphere in the room was tense to say the least. They were seated at a round conference table in the house that Kushina and Minato had built, clockwise from the top it was Azazel, Uriel, Abaddon, Minato, Kushina, Sirzechs, and finally Ajuka. The silence was broken as Abaddon cleared his throat.

"I do hope that there was a reason that we were all called here, Minato. While it is nice to see old allies…" he trailed off, staring heavily at Azazel and Minato himself.

"Yes, there is a reason," Minato confirmed. "I just thought it was more prudent to bask in the fact that this is the first meeting between the three factions. We've come a long way from the wars."

"What is it exactly you want to talk about?" Ajuka was the one to ask.

Kushina lowered her head and caressed her slightly bulging stomach, "We want to talk of the future. The future where mine and Minato's child will be born."

"What about it, exactly?" Azazel questioned, resting his cheek on his left hand, elbow on the table.

"We want a true peace. One where there is no more fighting. One where we won't have to worry about our son's future," Minato said resolutely.

"Hmph. You should have thought about that before you conceived a child with a devil," Abaddon's gruff voice dripped venom.

"Please, there's no need for hostility," Sirzechs said, trying to defuse the situation, but Abaddon did not relent.

"Reveal your wings, Minato," he commanded, rising to his feet, followed by Uriel.

"What? That's not important," Minato tried to deny as he and the rest of his guests tried to steer the conversation back to diplomacy.

"Show me your wings, Loki!" Abaddon shouted, unfurling his twelve pure white wings.

Reluctantly, Minato allowed his wings to appear to those gathered; only his were the complete opposite of his former ally. "Are you satisfied, now, Abaddon?"

Abaddon continued as if he hadn't heard Minato, "You're not fit to be making peace, traitor. You were once a powerful general in God's army. You grew weak in your convictions, and you fell in love, with this she-devil."

"You'd do well not to speak of my wife in such a manner," Minato warned. "Humans can feel love. They were God's favored. Why do we have to limit ourselves when humans don't?"

"We are superior! Emotions have no place in the Kingdom of God! They make you weak, they are nothing but a hindrance," Abaddon snarled. "Look at what they've brought you to, Loki. Making peace with the betrayers, impregnating this whore-"

"Now you listen here!" Kushina yelled as she stood up, her natural grace hampered by the life growing in her stomach.

"No, YOU listen, wench! You were the cause of my greatest ally's betrayal and fall! You are the cause of all the problems. God should have killed Lucifer when he started his rebellion. Maybe then we'd still have Loki and that abomination would not be growing in your stomach!"

There was no warning, just a flash of light against steel as Minato's Flaming Sword appeared from thin air, igniting in a blaze. A splash of blood on the ceiling was all that remained after the swing, the sword disappearing as quickly as it came.

"Aauuugh!" Abaddon cried in pain as his hands flew over his left eye.

"Abaddon!" Uriel cried in distress, forming a spear of light and holding it in defense, as she jumped in front of her general.

"Be glad, Abaddon," Minato's cold voice echoed around the room, despite him having whispered it, "I only took your eye. It could have been your head."

Abaddon pulled his hands away from his face, the cauterized wound a single straight line from his jaw to his forehead, crossing his left eye which also had a cut across it, the eyelids split as well. "You… You DARE attack ME?!"

"It's your one, and only warning. My son is not an abomination, and you will do well to remember that."

A thick, heavy silence fell upon the group, the only sounds being Abaddon's pained breathing, his new scar throbbing intensely. Finally, he turned away, "This meeting is pointless. There shall never be peace so long as there are Devils, Fallen Angels, and what you call your son in this existence. Watch your back, Loki. Come, Uriel," Abaddon commanded as they left the house.

The rest of the meeting was nearly rendered moot, and an awkward silence permeated the room, and was only broken as Kushina fell to her knees sobs wracking her petite frame. Minato knelt next to his wife who continued to sob, Sirzechs, Ajuka, and Azazel all looking on with sympathetic looks. "I-is thi-is h-h-how my baby is go-goin-inng to be seen?"

Minato held her close to him as she latched onto him and cried into his shirt. "We'll have no worries. Our son will be strong. We'll make sure of that."

A clearing of throats brought their attention back to their guests. Azazel walked around the table and knelt down next to the couple and offered a small smile. "I'm working on a project. The outcome of which will allow me to give artificially made Sacred Gears to any being. Bring your son to me when he is ten, and I will allow him to choose one that will be implanted in him, a gift from the Fallen, to our brother who also wishes to know human emotion."

Minato and Kushina were stunned. Never would they have thought that someone would view their son in such a light. But their thoughts were cut short by another.

"And bring him to me when he's ten, I'll try and give him his own Evil Piece set. I mean, the son of an original Satan, even one who was named after the Great Four, would certainly count as high-ranking," Ajuka smiled at the two, who were even more stunned.

"Why?" Kushina asked, confused. "Why are you so intent on helping our son?"

Sirzechs was the one to answer, "He'll be the one to bring change to the factions. I can feel it. He's going to be a big player. And if you don't mind my asking, what are you going to name him?"

Kushina smiled, as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Her hands caressed her stomach, with Minato's hands joining hers, "His name will be Naruto."

Ten years later, a blonde, blue-eyed boy was flanked by a man who he looked like a carbon copy of, and a woman with red hair down to her ankles. He was tall for his age, standing at about 4 feet, 9 inches, he also weighed a good, solid 90 pounds, which was due to all of the exercise and training that his parents had put him through. He was dressed in some sneakers, blue shorts, and a white shirt worn under an orange zip-up hoodie that lacked sleeves. His gaze looked up at his mom as they were walking down a hallway of an apartment complex, "Where are we going again?"

Kushina looked down at her son who was quickly gaining on her short frame with a smile, "His name is Azazel. He asked us to bring you to him before you were born so that he could give you an Artificial Sacred Gear."

"Artificial Sacred Gear? Is it anything like the ones you guys told me about?" Naruto asked, having been educated in the supernatural world since he could understand words.

"I don't know," Minato replied with a shrug, gaining his son's attention. "We'll have to check it out, see what he's got, and if it's safe to implant one."

Naruto furrowed his brows. He had been told that he was going to receive one of his choosing. But what if he chose wrong? What if the one he chooses isn't one that is compatible with him? What if he changes his mind later on? It was causing him a great deal of stress that rendered him a worrisome mess.

Kushina smiled down at him as they reached the door they were supposed to go to, "Don't worry, you'll choose the one that is best for you. You'll know it in your heart."

Naruto nodded as his father knocked on the door. A short time later, the sound of the lock being undone was heard and the door swung open. It revealed a man with black hair and blonde bangs with stubble on his chin. He was wearing gray sweatpants and a blue shirt. He yawned with his hand over his mouth while rubbing his eyes to regain his focus. "What's wrong?" was his greeting.

"Uhhh… Nothing's wrong," Minato frowned. "You told us to come over today."

The statement seemed to spark Azazel's mind into gear, and he finally looked at those standing in his doorway, "Oh! Minato-san! Kushina-san! Sorry about that, I had a late night." He looked down and saw the small carbon-copy of Minato standing between the two and smiled at the boy, "You must be Naruto-kun, pleased to meet you. I'm Azazel."

"Err… Yeah, I'm Naruto," Naruto said with a bow after getting a nudge from his mom. "It's nice to meet you, Azazel-san."

"My, my, your parents have done a very good job raising you. So polite at your age," he smiled down, before stepping out of the way, allowing entrance into his house, "Please come in."

The three Uzumakis entered the apartment, and the two older ones were surprised at just how clean the house was. For a bachelor, he kept his place tidy, despite the odd dish or magazine lying about. He shut the door behind them and motioned for them to follow him. He lead them to what they thought was going to be a bedroom, only to open the door and enter what looked like a laboratory and machine shop rolled into one, and it was easily four times as big as the apartment building itself, which instantly told them they were in an artificial dimension.

"In here is where I do all my work making Artificial Sacred Gears. I've made quite a few, but it's up to you to decide which one you would have," Azazel smiled as he sat in a spinning office chair.

"What kinds have you made?" Minato asked out of curiosity.

Azazel hopped to his feet and walked over to a cabinet with pull-out doors labeled "Azazel's Toys" and opened a drawer, showing the three there what was in it. Inside was a small golden dagger-looking pointy thing with a purple gem on the pommel. He picked it up and showed it to the Uzumaki family. "This is one of my favorite creations, the Down Fall Dragon Spear. Its main purpose is to kill dragons, but works well on other races as well." He then placed the spear back in the drawer and pulled out what looked like a sword hilt, he held it up, presenting it to the family, before a glowing black-white blade erupted from the end that hummed faintly. It looked to be made of both light and darkness. "This one is cool. I call it the Blazer Shining Aura Darkness Blade!"

Needless to say, Naruto was in awe of the blade, it was bright, it was shiny, and it had a cool name. His fingers fidgeted in anticipation to hold the weapon, only to watch in confusion as the blade shrank to about the size of a bread knife.

"It's also great as a kitchen utensil!" he demonstrated as he cut a piece of bread that was toasted on one side when he was done. Naruto's face promptly fell in disappointment. It really wasn't as cool as he made it out to be.

"Err… Not to interrupt or anything, Azazel-san," Kushina said as he started rummaging for another to show off, "but shouldn't we let Naruto look around and see if he can't find his own?"

Azazel smacked his right palm with his left fist as he stood to his full height, "You're right. How very inappropriate of me to make this about showcasing my genius. Please, this way."

He led Naruto and his parents toward a large panel on the wall, before walking over to a button next to it. The panel slid up into the ceiling, and it revealed a huge assortment of Artificial Sacred Gears. Most of them were corporeal, able to be held, others were bottled up in glass displays, and just glowing sources of light, in multiple shades.

"These are all of the Sacred Gears that I have made, and have not kept for myself," Azazel explained. "There are two categories, those that are attuned, the ones you can pick up, and those that are implanted, those glowing sources of light. Now, you only get to choose one, so please, ask as many questions about any of those that interest you."

Naruto stepped forward and started looking at what was on display. His eyes were drawn every which way, but a metallic looking one caught his eye first, "What's that one?"

"Mirror's Edge. It allows you to reflect all spells and non-physical attacks back at your enemy."

Naruto nodded, and continued looking. His next focus was a large sword that didn't have a point, but was rounded, and looked like it had teeth along the fore and back of the blade. At the base was what looked like a motor, "This is strange…"

"That's the Type 1 Hyper Eviscerator, a sword that has a chainsaw blade flowing along the edge. It's powered by your mana," Azazel smiled at his young charge.

"Ehhh… No thanks on that one," his eyes were then drawn to a green glowing light. "What's this one?"

"Ah, that's one of my better ones, one that is almost equal to a real Sacred Gear, Regenerist. Its ability is the complete regeneration of wounds. It's powered by your mana, and its draw is proportional to how severe the wound is. If you were a human and had mana, this could allow you to live forever as it stops the deterioration of your cells as they divide. But, seeing as you're supernatural, it'll just give you the ability to heal all wounds easily."

"That sounds like it is a Sacred Gear," Minato said with raised eyebrows. "Why is it inferior?"

"Well, there is a limit to just how much damage it can heal at a time. Say you lose your arm, over a few minutes, your arm would regrow and you would be able to keep on fighting if you have the mana after something so draining. Well, should your arm get lobbed off again, well, you'd have to wait for its cool down to reset. So, while it's cooling down, you're still bleeding out, and you could possibly die," Azazel said with a small smile. "Which is why it's always a good idea to keep a healer with you."

"What about small cuts and stuff like that?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.

"Well, that's the thing, with most minor wounds, there's no cool down, so you can get cut, and it'll heal up, then you can get bruised, and it'll fade. But with major wounds, it takes time and too many in a row could have serious complications."

Naruto nodded, almost certain that he had found the one that he would take, but he decided to keep browsing, seeing what else Azazel had in stock. After various looks, questions, and Regenerist not leaving his mind, he finally asked about one more that sat two shelves down from Regenerist, which looked like a short dagger.

"That's the Morph Blade. It can change its size, shape, and even what weapon it is. It makes for an unpredictable attack if your opponent is coming at you with two daggers one moment and a broad axe the next."

Naruto looked between the glowing green of Regenerist and the Morph Blade. He was having a hard time. On the one hand, he knew that if he could heal from any injury, he didn't have to worry about getting hurt. However, having a blade that could be anything his mind wanted it to be was more amazing. He started agonizing over what he wanted, but found himself looking to his parents for guidance. Neither of them had a healing factor, and both of them used weapons… albeit those made for their hands only.

With a small nod, he knew what he wanted, "I'll take the Morph Blade. It'll be much more helpful, and I'll know how to fight anyone with their own weapon if I train with any and all weapons that I can think of."

Azazel nodded, before grabbing the blade and passing it to the young man. "Alright, now, to attune that Sacred Gear with you, take a firm hold of your mana and let it envelop your hands and flow through the blade. Then, the blade will react in some way unique to you, and then regress to a shape that you find most familiar."

Naruto nodded, and with practiced ease, he channeled his mana into the blade and felt the connection begin to form. Once the bond had solidified, the blade glowed brightly before expanding erratically, pushing Naruto back, and causing him to thud the display case pretty hard. This in turn jostled the shelves, and the glowing green case of Regenerist dislodged itself from its spot. The case fell and impacted upon Naruto's head, causing the glass to shatter and cut his face and shoulders pretty badly. "Agh!" he yelled out from the sudden attack.

Nearly instantly, the Morph Blade changed back down to a katana, and Minato, Kushina, and Azazel looked on, seeing the damage caused to Naruto, who still had blood running down his face and arms. His parents rushed to his sides and started to remove shards of glass from him, Kushina panicking slightly that her baby had been hurt in such a way.

But, before their very eyes, the glass started getting pushed out of his skin, and tinkling to the floor as his wounds sizzled and steamed shut, leaving unblemished skin behind. "Oh dear," Azazel said flatly, causing all three Uzumakis to look at him. "It seems that you've also acquired Regenerist. And here I only meant to give you one of my babies."

Naruto looked down, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Well, you can take the other one away, right?" Kushina asked in curiosity, only to receive a shake of the head from Azazel.

"Nope, I can't. Those that are implanted, which happens through contact with the body, are immediately intertwined with the recipient. The only way to remove it is to kill the holder," Azazel sighed, before scratching the back of his head.

"You can have this one back then," Naruto said, holding out the Morph Blade.

"No can do, kid. That's attuned to you as well. It can no longer work for anyone else but you," Azazel informed the shorter blonde.

Minato stepped in, "Well, what do you propose we do?"

Azazel looked deep in thought for a minute before responding, "Well, we'll call it even if I have a favor on tap from the two of you and Naruto-kun. And I can call it in any time that I wish."

Minato and Kushina shared a look, before nodding in agreement. "Very well, that sounds fair. But, if your favor goes directly against our morals, we'll refuse."

"Excellent," Azazel smiled, before turning his attention down to the kid, now looking at his Morph Blade, concentrating and turning it into different shapes and designs. "Congrats kid. You get two Artificial Sacred Gears for the price of one."

Naruto looked up from his blade and flashed the Fallen a smile that nearly split his face in two, "Thank you so much, Azazel-san."

"Don't mention it, kid. Don't mention it," was his reply as he escorted the family from his home.

ONE WEEK LATER

This time the Uzumaki family found themselves in the Underworld, standing outside of another building, this one looking like a mad scientist's laboratory, the red sky overhead giving the place an even creepier vibe. Naruto had trained all week long with his Morph Blade, and it was getting faster and faster at changing to his whim. His clothes were the same as he had the week prior, but this time he was wearing a pair of black fingerless gloves and sweatbands that made it more comfortable to hold his blade with.

"So, this is where Ajuka Beelzebub lives?" Minato asked, taking in his surroundings as it had been a number of years since Minato had set foot in the Underworld.

"Seems so," Kushina said with a smile. The building was located on a hillside, and was about a mile outside of the capital city of Lilith. The Uzumaki matron reached out and pressed the doorbell, which was odd, but then so was Ajuka.

A scant few seconds later, Ajuka Beelzebub appeared in the doorway, his body was draped in a lab coat, and underneath he was wearing a suit. "Ah! The Uzumaki Clan. I've been expecting you." He then motioned them to come in, and it was revealed that his laboratory was very close to Azazel's pocket dimension, but there were more cables and pipes running to and through various machines.

"Please, come in. I've only got a couple finishing touches to a new potion before I'm done with it," Ajuka said as he walked back over to a workbench with some Bunsen burners and various beakers and test tubes lying about. He picked up an Erlenmeyer flask and started adding a light blue solution to the already green concoction. As the amount of liquid in the flask raised, all of a sudden, it started sizzling. "Oh dear, that's not supposed to happen."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a loud bang erupted into the room. This caused the three Uzumakis to jump in fright, the elder two less so than the younger. A cloud of some sort of smoke filled the air around his head, it was brightly colored, and the smell was acrid. When it cleared, it showed Ajuka with his hair blown back and stiff and his eyebrows were gone. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his now bloodshot eyes of anything. He gently set the still smoking Erlenmeyer flask down as well as the test tube he was holding. He then reached out to another part of the lab table and picked up a clipboard and pen and writing on it while talking to himself, "Trial twenty-two is a failure. Back to the drawing board."

He then turned back to the Uzumakis and motioned for them to follow him into a different part of the lab, "Come, come. No time to waste now."

Reluctantly, the family of three followed the slightly disturbed man deeper into his workshop. The next room that they came into was vastly different, inside it was very well-furnished. The only piece of machinery was a small cabinet connected with a computer. Ajuka gestured towards the empty couch which the Uzumakis took while he took a seat in a cushy-looking office chair and turned back to the three with a smile on his face. "So, Naruto-kun, I must ask a few preliminary questions before we make an Evil Piece set for you, nothing too invasive, just a way to weed out those who would use them for self-gratification and other standard questions."

"Okay," Naruto shrugged. He steeled his mind for whatever barrage of questions was to come at him, and he was sorely disappointed.

"Okay, first question, what is your birthday?"

It had been nearly thirty minutes and the questions seemed so random and arbitrary, but Ajuka assured Minato and Kushina that they were necessary. But really, how important could your current shoe size be? Or why would anyone need to know how many golf balls would fit in a 747 airplane? But it was the last question that seemed the most important.

"Okay, last question. If given Evil Pieces, what would you consider your peerage?" Ajuka's tone on this question was dead serious whereas it had been lighthearted and whimsical before.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, not quite grasping the question.

Ajuka elaborated for the young half-devil, "Well, if you were to have a peerage, how would you treat them?"

Without hesitation he got his answer, "They'd be my friends. I would treat them better than that, I would make sure that they wouldn't have to get hurt, and we'd all work together to be the best."

Ajuka looked at the child with a soft smile, "Very good, Naruto-kun. Now, would you please hold out your forearm, I'm going to draw some blood," he said pulling out a sealed syringe.

Naruto shied away, having had a bad experience as a kid with needles had given him a fear. But, steeling his nerves, he held out his right arm, and closed his eyes. He then waited, anticipating the inevitable pain that came with the small metal tube, yet he didn't feel anything. He slowly cracked his eyes open and saw Ajuka typing on his computer, the filled syringe locked into a port on the side of the small cabinet.

"Alrighty, just a few more seconds, and with a press of this button, you'll get your new Evil Piece set," Ajuka said before pressing the enter key on his keyboard, only for nothing to happen at all. He tried pressing the button again, only to get the same reaction. He turned to the screen and began typing at full speed, quickly analyzing the data that was being shown on his screen. "Oh, that would explain it…" he mumbled after five minutes of furious typing.

"Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked, confused and saddened.

"No, you did nothing wrong, Naruto-kun. There're a couple of reasons as to why this won't work," Ajuka said as he turned to face the family of three. "The first problem is that your mom isn't recognized as a High-Class devil that is part of the original 72 Pillars of Hell. It probably has to do with the original Lucifer and how Kushina-sama rebelled and didn't participate in the last half of the war."

Kushina frowned and worried her eyebrows in concern, "So because I fell in love, Naruto-kun can't get his own Evil Piece set?"

"Well, it's not just you, but Minato-san as well," Ajuka stated, turning his gaze on the mighty Fallen.

"Me?"

Ajuka nodded his head, "Usually, we don't have Fallen Angels resurrected as devils, seeing as the holy powers do not mesh with the dark of devils. However, we do have a few, but they're but bugs in comparison to you or Azazel-san. The holy energy flowing through Naruto-kun is so powerful that it nullifies the demonic powers of the Evil Pieces, or would if it were possible to craft a set."

A pregnant silence filled the atmosphere of the room. Minato and Kushina looked saddened, but Naruto looked heartbroken. He had been looking to have people to protect and make friends with, as a group they would overcome any challenge before them. But all those dreams were dashed away.

Ajuka cleared his throat to collect the attention of his guests. "There is… Something else that I can give you…"

"What is that?" Naruto asked, his hopes rising a little bit.

The brilliant scientist rubbed the back of his neck, and looked a little nervous, "Well, I have a project that I have been working on for a while. It's a bit like what Azazel-san has been able to do."

"What do you mean?" Minato asked, a dubious look flashing into his eyes.

"It's a devil's answer to Sacred Gears, only I've made it, so it's more like an empowered Artificial Sacred Gear. It's about half a step away from being exactly like a Sacred Gear."

"What is it?" Naruto asked, his curiosity being piqued.

"I call it the Corrupted Armament," Azazel informed the trio.

"Corrupted Armament?" Kushina asked.

"Yes, it is just like a Sacred Gear, but it is for devils, or half-devils," Ajuka lectured. "There are a couple problems that come with it, however. The first being that it is random, whenever a Corrupted Armament is implanted, it is unknown exactly what it will become. The second is that it may not even manifest at all. It's got about a thirty percent success rate. Thirdly, in one implantation, it completely destroyed the mana pool of the host, making the use of all spells impossible."

At hearing the last sentence, Kushina grabbed her son and hugged him to her chest, "No, absolutely not. Even if it's only one time, the same could happen to Naruto-kun. I will not allow it."

"But, mom," Naruto tried reasoning with her, and failed.

"But nothing, you will not be getting one," she said, holding him tightly, causing him to try and wriggle his way free.

Minato looked to his wife, "Kushina-chan, maybe we should let Naruto-kun tell us his feelings on this?"

"You can't be seriously considering this, Minato?!" she gasped at him in shock.

Minato's reply was a nod. The single action caused Kushina to loosen her grip and turn to her son worriedly. Naruto took a couple seconds recomposing himself and smoothing out his clothes. He tried smoothing out his hair, but it didn't help in the least with his inherited genetics.

"I want to get a Corrupted Armament," Naruto said after settling back into his position. "I want to be able to help protect my friends and you guys. I need to be as strong as I can be."

Kushina looked worriedly at her son, but upon seeing his determined look and her husband's proud gaze, she relented and nodded her head in confirmation of her son's wants. Ajuka nodded and stood up from his seat. He walked out of the room through a different door than what they entered through. It was only a minute later that he walked back out, and in his hand was a glowing red orb of swirling chaos. His hand was covered in a metal glove that seemed to have small disks on the finger tips and helped him to hold onto the orb. He stopped a few feet in front of Naruto and started his explanation.

"Now, Naruto-kun, I'm going to shove this orb into your gut, where your mana pool is. If it all goes well, you'll be enveloped in a bright red light and your mind will know how to manifest your new weapon. And if not… well, hopefully we won't have to see that, eh?" he smiled at the preteen. "Now, I'll count to three and shove it into your gut. It might sting a little or you'll just feel some pressure." Naruto nodded and took a deep breath in preparation to tense up. "One." And Ajuka shoved the orb into his gut before Naruto could even react. It felt like he had had the wind knocked out of him and he doubled over after falling to his knees, coughing, trying to get air back into his lungs.

The three adults looked on, waiting for Naruto to be enveloped in a bright light, only to be kept waiting. Ajuka frowned in displeasure. "What's that mean, Ajuka-san?" Kushina asked of the man.

"It means that it didn't work. Naruto-kun didn't get a Corrupted Armament. Perhaps his holy energy is so high that it doesn't work," Ajuka theorized as he started to pull off the metal glove. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."

Naruto rose to his feet, his face despondent, "It's alright, Ajuka-san, I guess I'll just have to train extra hard to get super strong."

The somber moment wasn't meant to last forever as the door to the room was opened and revealed two individuals, a tall man and a short girl. The man was very handsome, and had medium length red hair, with two longer strands framing his face. It was a shade or two deeper than Kushina's and had a luscious shine to it. He was wearing white pants with black boots on his legs. He had a white, long-sleeved button-up on underneath a black and gold waist-coat that was held together by three golden chains across the chest. His gray eyes were filled with surprise at the happenings in the room. "Oh, I didn't realize you had guests, Ajuka."

"Ah, Sirzechs, you're a little early," Ajuka informed his best friend and rival.

"I know, I know, but I was just so excited, I mean today is when my cute, little sister gets her Evil Piece set!" he beamed, placing the young girl in front of himself, showcasing her. The four occupants of the room turned their attention on the young girl. She was a very cute girl indeed. She was about average height for her age, which looked to be Naruto's age. Her hair was very long, looking like it hadn't been cut since the day she was born, and it flowed everywhere wildly. Her big green eyes looked at the gathered with curiosity. She was wearing a sun dress with bike shorts underneath with sandals on. "This is my sister, Rias-chan. Say 'hi', Rias-chan."

She offered the group a cute smile and bowed, "Nice to meet you all, I'm Rias Gremory."

The reactions were varied, Ajuka smiled, having met her several times in the past. Kushina cooed and smiled at her and returned her greeting. Minato nodded and offered his own greeting in return. Naruto just stared, wide-eyed and a small flush dusting his cheeks. Upon feeling Minato push him from behind a bit, he snapped out of it and bowed back to her, "Er… N-nice to meet you, Rias-san, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Rias stepped forward after Naruto rose back into a standing position and offered her hand to him, "Let's be friends, so call me Rias-chan."

Naruto flushed a bit more and nodded his head, taking her hand in his own in a shake, "Okay, and you can call me Naruto-kun as well."

A sudden teasing cat-call was heard in the direction of Ajuka, "Oooo-ooOoo… Looks like Naruto-kun has a c-r-u-s-h," he said, spelling out crush, causing Minato and Kushina to chuckle at her son's misfortune, and a dark expression crossed the face of Sirzechs.

"Is that so?" the leader of the Maou questioned with a raised eyebrow. He kneeled down to Naruto's level, pulling Naruto's occupied hand free and into his own, giving it a slightly painful squeeze. "Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun, I'm Sirzechs Lucifer, the leader of the Four Great Satans."

Naruto felt nervous, Sirzechs was casting a dark aura around himself, a skull could be seen in the background, and it looked like it wanted to eat Naruto's soul. The suddenly dark aura was lifted as Rias took Naruto's hand back, giving her older brother a childish glare, "Stop being mean to my friend, onii-chan. Naruto-kun hasn't done anything and you're already being mean to him!"

"W-what? I wasn't-" Sirzechs tried to defend himself, but was outmatched by his sister who puffed up her cheeks in annoyance and gave him a bigger glare. He started to sweat before giving a nervous chuckle, "I was just… just… erm… teasing! Yeah, that's it, of course I want my little sister to have great friends like Naruto-kun here!"

Rias gave a huge smile before turning to Naruto again, "So, are you getting your Evil Pieces today too, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto deflated a bit and tried to find a way to avoid talking about his failures that day, but was beat to it by Ajuka, "I'm afraid Naruto-kun couldn't get a set. My device wouldn't let him."

Rias looked upset at the news and gave Naruto a sympathetic look. Sirzechs, on the other hand, looked surprised. "Why did that happen? It should give a set to anyone of the blood of a high-class devil. Kushina-san is certainly a High-class Devil."

Ajuka shrugged and offered a lopsided smirk of bemusement, "It might have to do with him not being a Full-blooded Devil as well."

Sirzechs' mouth did a very good 'o' impression of understanding, but the conversation between the two old friends had gotten the attention of Rias who turned back to her new friend and gave him a questioning look, "You're not a Full-blooded Devil, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck while giving her a grin of his own, "Nope, my dad's a Fallen Angel."

This reveal caused Rias to turn to Minato, who had been watching with his wife in amusement as their son made a new friend. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the tall blonde before turning her attention back to the shorter, but still taller than her, blonde and looked at him in even more awe. "Wow! So, that makes you a Half-Devil, Half-Fallen Angel?"

Naruto nodded and to prove his point, allowed his wings to manifest. It was unique in that Naruto had been born with two sets of wings, a pair of black, feathered ones, and a smaller pair of bat-like wings. It was also worthy to note that the amount of wings that Naruto had seemed to reflect his power like his father. At four wings, he was considered exemplary among the power levels of the low-ranking Fallen Angels. He was still barely a speck compared to the vast well of power his father was. It wasn't well-known that an angel's wings stopped at twelve in number, but their power could still be increased much further. It was hardly known because most twelve-winged angels stopped trying to gain power after reaching that plateau. It was a dangerous territory, as complacency set in due to just how hard it was to attain twelve wings. Most angels stopped at either six or eight wings, but there were far more numerous two and four-winged beings than six and higher.

"That's so cool!" Rias cried out, looking at his sets of wings. Her own pair of bat-like wings erupted from her back so that she could compare hers. "I've only got two, but I'm not Half-Fallen Angel like you are. Is that why you have two sets?"

"I think it's kind-of like how Angels and Fallen rank themselves," Minato said, causing the younger redhead to look at him. To illustrate his point, he let his twelve wings expand from his back, causing Rias' eyes to widen in surprise. "The more wings that an Angel or Fallen has denotes how much power he or she has. The most any can have is twelve, but don't think that puts all twelve-winged angels on the same power level." He then retracted his wings and gave her a smile.

Rias nodded, and then turned back to Naruto, examining his wings and asking him so many rapid-fire questions that he had no hope of answering. Ajuka drew his attention from the chattering kids and turned to Naruto's parents, "So, does the number of wings that he has denote his power as well?"

Kushina nodded her head, "As far as we can tell. He was born with more power in his body than any two or four-winged angel that I've ever seen, so it seems safe to assume that his wings are also a gauge to his power in a similar fashion."

"Quite interesting indeed," Ajuka stated as they watched the two children interact and get to know each other better. Their conversation was interrupted as Ajuka insisted on giving Rias her Evil Pieces, the young redhead was then escorted to where Naruto had been sat and Ajuka's standard questionnaire began, the Uzumakis excusing themselves and going to wait elsewhere. Thirty minutes later, a happy Rias emerged with a case holding her set, which she immediately took to show Naruto. He looked on in amusement as she went through all of the power sets, the values of the pieces, and other such things that she felt he needed to know.

It was getting late and sadly, the children's carefree afternoon was coming to a close. "It's getting late, we had best be getting back to my family's house," Sirzechs informed the adults, causing Rias to frown in disappointment.

"But, I just started playing with Naruto-kun, we can't go yet!" Rias insisted.

"Rias-chan, it's been almost two hours," Sirzechs said with a small laugh at the girl's lack of concept of time, "I'm sure mother and father are getting curious as to where you are."

Rias frowned and she turned to Naruto, wrapping her arms around his neck, causing a small flush to dust his cheeks, "But I don't wanna! I wanna play with Naruto-kun more!"

Kushina was the one who defused the little girl's argument as she knelt down beside the two ten-year-olds. "How about this, Rias-chan: next weekend you can come and have a sleepover at our house? That way you and Naruto-chan can play all weekend, how's that sound?"

Both of their eyes widened at the suggestion and eagerly agreed. It was obvious that the two had become very close, very fast friends. And just like that, the Uzumakis and Sirzechs and Rias left Ajuka's home with promises to make sure it was okay with her parents and promises for a fun weekend. The joy and happiness in the two was boundless and infectious. If only those carefree days could have stayed.

A/N: This is a distraction that could not be avoided. For those fans of mine who have been awaiting the next chapter of The Faerie's Lightning Dragon, please, wait just a bit longer. The chapter is about 75% done at this point, but I could not just let this go.

On another note, work has had its busy season the last couple of months, so I've been working 12-16 hour days 7 days a week. I finally had my first day off today (the 27th) in almost three months. With the culmination of our busy season, I should be getting more time for guilty pleasures, meaning more writing time.

About this story, I absolutely fell in love with the Naruto/Highschool DxD crossover and found myself obsessing over it. With most stories in the genre, we see Naruto inducted into Rias' peerage, or him having something to do with dragons. I wanted to step out of that norm, so I decided that Naruto would not be a part of Rias' peerage and he would not have anything to do with dragons. He is also not from his own world and has no shinobi skills. Some other stories have given Naruto a peerage, which I decided against, and instead created my own take on a genre mechanic, the Corrupted Armament. I ultimately decided that he wouldn't be Naruto without a healing factor, hence why I gave him a semi-healing factor. Also, the Morph Blade was inspired by Rave Master to a certain extent, but instead of having different properties, it is a normal weapon that can create matter and density through mana giving it the ability to change shape. This will be sort-of prominent when it comes to Naruto's friendship with Rias.

Now, most people will want to know what the pairing is, and without a doubt, it will be Naruto/Rias. Now, if I find myself writing Akeno as she should be written, it might become Naruto/Rias/Akeno, but nothing more than that. Well… I won't say that, there is a third option, but that will be a secret to be revealed when this story progresses to that stage of the canon storyline.

Also, before anyone jumps up my butt about the definition of Nephilim according to the Bible, I know. Just roll with it. =)

But please, read and review and let me know what you think.

Regards,

AtheistBear